Pack Rat
Pack rat= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_rat#mw-head navigation], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_rat#p-search search]This article is about the rodent. For other uses, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_rat_%28disambiguation%29 Pack rat (disambiguation)]. A '''pack rat''', also called a '''trade rat''' or '''wood rat''', can be any of several [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species species] in the genus ''Neotoma'', but most commonly the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushy-tailed_Woodrat Bushy-tailed Woodrat]''' (''Neotoma cinerea''). Description Pack rats are prevalent in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert deserts] and highlands of western [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States United States] and northern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico Mexico]. They also inhabit parts of the eastern United States and Western Canada. Pack rats are a little smaller than a typical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat rat] and have long, sometimes bushy tails. Pack rats build complex nests of twigs, called "middens", often incorporating [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactus cactus]. Nests are often built in small [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave caves], but frequently also in the attics and walls of houses. Some ''Neotoma'' species, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_Woodrat White-throated Woodrat] (''N. albigula''), use the base of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia prickly pear] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholla cholla] cactus as the site for their home, utilizing the cactus' spines for protection from predators. Others, like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Woodrat Desert Woodrat] (''N. lepida'') will appropriate the burrows of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_squirrel ground squirrels] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_rat kangaroo rats] and fortify the entrance with sticks and bits of spiny cactus stems fallen from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_Cholla Jumping] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy-bear_Cholla Teddy-bear Chollas]. In houses, pack rats are active nocturnally, searching for food and nest material. Historically, houses in or near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_town ghost towns] were typically infested with pack rats. Some species of pack rats were called "prairie flounders" by settlers. This might have occurred because the eyes of pack rats are set somewhat higher in the head than other [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent rodents]. Unique behaviour A peculiar characteristic is that if they find something they want, they will drop what they are currently carrying, for example a piece of cactus, and "trade" it for the new item. They are particularly fond of shiny objects, leading to tales of rats swapping a stone for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewelry jewelry].[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed citation needed]''] They can also be quite vocal and boisterous, sounding at times as if a "family rift" is taking place. Species *'''''Neotoma''''' *Subgenus (''Neotoma'') **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_albigula Neotoma albigula]'' - White-throated Woodrat ***''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_albigula_varia Neotoma albigula varia]'' - Turner Island Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_angustapalata Neotoma angustapalata]'' - Tamaulipan Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_anthonyi Neotoma anthonyi]'' - Anthony's Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_bryanti Neotoma bryanti]'' - Bryant's Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_bunkeri Neotoma bunkeri]'' - Bunker's Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_chrysomelas Neotoma chrysomelas]'' - Nicaraguan Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_devia Neotoma devia]'' - Arizona Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_floridana Neotoma floridana]'' - Florida Woodrat (Eastern Woodrat) ***''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_floridana_smalli Neotoma floridana smalli]'' - Key Largo Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_goldmani Neotoma goldmani]'' - Goldman's Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_lepida Neotoma lepida]'' - Desert Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_leucodon Neotoma leucodon]'' - White-toothed Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_macrotis Neotoma macrotis] - Big-eared Woodrat'' **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_magister Neotoma magister]'' - Allegheny Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_martinensis Neotoma martinensis]'' - San Martin Island Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_mexicana Neotoma mexicana]'' - Mexican Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_micropus Neotoma micropus]'' - Southern Plains Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_nelsoni Neotoma nelsoni]'' - Nelson's Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_palatina Neotoma palatina]'' - Bolaos Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_stephensi Neotoma stephensi]'' - Stephens's Woodrat *Subgenus (''Teanopus'') **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_phenax Neotoma phenax]'' - Sonoran Woodrat *Subgenus (''Teonoma'') **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_cinerea Neotoma cinerea]'' - Bushy-tailed Woodrat **''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotoma_fuscipes Neotoma fuscipes]'' - Dusky-footed Woodrat Pack rat midden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pack_rat_midden.jpeg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pack_rat_midden.jpeg ]A large pack rat midden ''(center)'' from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene Pleistocene] period.A pack rat midden is the nest of a pack rat. Pack rat middens may preserve the materials incorporated into it up to 40,000 years. The middens may thus be analyzed to reconstruct their original environment, and comparisons between middens allow a record of vegetative and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change climate change] to be built. Examinations and comparisons of pack rat middens have largely supplanted [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palynology pollen records] as a method of study in the regions where they are available. Midden structure [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Packrat_midden_NV_1.jpg ][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Packrat_midden_NV_1.jpg ]Active pack rat midden in northern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada Nevada]Pack rats are known for their characteristic searching of materials to bring back to their nests creating an ever expanding collection known as a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midden midden]" for its messiness. In natural environments, the middens are normally built out of sticks in rock crevices or caves for protection from predators. In the absence of crevices or caves, the middens are often built under trees or bushes. The pack rats will also use plant fragments, animal dung and small rocks in building the nest. The vast majority of the materials will be from a radius of several dozen yards of the nest. The pack rats urinate in the midden; sugar and other substances in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine urine] crystallizes as it dries out, creating a material known as amberat, cementing the midden together. After a few decades, the rats will abandon the midden and move on to start a new nest. Pack rat midden analysis In 1978, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoecology paleoecologist] [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julio_Betancourt&action=edit&redlink=1 Julio Betancourt] was asked to study pack rat middens. Betancourt had previously tried to imagine where the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anasazi Anasazi] had gotten the numerous large logs for the buildings of the treeless [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaco_Culture_National_Historical_Park Chaco Canyon] site in what is now northwestern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico New Mexico]; he called midden expert [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Van_Devender&action=edit&redlink=1 Tom Van Devender] and confirmed that Van Devender had found [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1on piñon] needles near the site, though none of these trees grew there in modern times. Thinking that the middens were perhaps a century old, Van Devender and Betancourt submitted the middens to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating radiocarbon dating] and found that many of them were over 1,000 years old. Research since then has found middens can last 40,000 years. The resilience of the middens is due to three factors. The crystallized urine dramatically slows the decay of the materials in the midden. The dry climate of the American Southwest further slows the decay, and middens that are protected from the elements under rock overhangs or in caves survive even longer. Zoologists examine the remains of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal animals] in middens to get a sense of the fauna in the neighborhood of the midden, while [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleobotany paleobotanists] can reconstruct the vegetation that grew nearby. Because middens are abandoned after a short period of time, they are uncontaminated "time capsules" of several decades of natural life, centuries and millennia after they occurred. The analysis of middens was key in understanding the fauna around [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo_Bonito Pueblo Bonito], and thus helping to explain its history. References *Betancourt, Julio L., Thomas R. Van Devender, and Paul S. Martin, eds. ''Packrat Middens: The Last 40,000 Years of Biotic Change'', University of Arizona Press, 1990, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0816511152 ISBN 0-8165-1115-2]. *Duff, A. and A. Lawson. 2004. Mammals of the World A Checklist. New Haven, Yale University Press. *Kays, R. W., and D. E. Wilson. 2002. Mammals of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 240 pp. *Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. =